On July 4th, 2006, I embarked on a quest to become the pre-eminent American portrait painter of the 21st century. This blog chronicles that journey. With apologies to Joan Didion, I call it THE YEAR OF MAGICAL PAINTING.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

You know what blood looks like in a black and white video?

Many years ago along the illinois-wisconsin borderThere was this indian tribeThey found two babies in the woodsWhite babiesOne of them was named elizabethShe was the fairer of the twoWhile the smaller and more fragile one was named marieHaving never seen white girls beforeAnd living on the two lakes known as the twin lakesThey named the larger and more beautiful lake, lake elizabethAnd thus the smaller lake that was hidden from the highwayBecame known forever as lake marie

Many years later I found myself talking to this girlWho was standing there with her back turned to lake marieThe wind was blowing especially through her hairThere was four italian sausages cooking on the outdoor grillAnd man, they was ssssssssizzlin’Many years later we found ourselves in canadaTrying to save our marriage and perhaps catch a few fishWhatever seemed easierThat night she fell asleep in my armsHumming the tune to "louie louie’Aah baby, we gotta go now.

The dogs were barking as the cars were parkingThe loan sharks were sharking the narcs were narcingPractically everyone was thereIn the parking lot by the forest preserveThe police had found two bodiesNay, naked bodiesTheir faces had been horribly disfigured by some sharp objectSaw it on the news on the tv news in a black and white videoYou know what blood looks like in a black and white video?Shadows, shadows that’s exactly what it looks likeAll the love we shared between her and me was slammedSlammed up against the banks of old lake marie, marie